Unlikely Love
by MinaElthen
Summary: Failing to assassinate Sasori, Sakura fell unconscious from blood loss and depleted chakra. Impressed with her performance, Sasori decided to spare her life so he brought her to Akatsuki base. Thereafter, he found that she had lost her memory.
1. chapter 1

Title: Unlikely Love

Pairing: Sasori/Sakura

Rating: T/Pg-13

Genre: Romance/Humor

Description: In the cave where Sakura faced agaisn't Sasori in his puppet form, she was caught in a desperate measure on how to defeat him before she dies from blood loss. To her temporal delight, her final powerful blow managed to land on Sasori hence separating his puppetry limbs. However, she blacked out due to big blood loss before she got the chance to destroy his heart. Somehow at some point, Sasori managed to reattach himself. Impressed by Sakura,he decided to spare her life and brought her to Akatsuki's Hideout only to find out that she had lost her memory.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, it belongs to Masashi Kishimoto, the legend himself. I'm just a typical pathetic fangirl with wild imagination trying to make Sasosaku happens in my stories. (;= w =; )

A/N: Hello everyone, this is my first attempt writing a fanfic. English is not my my native language so I'm suck at it lol. Crictisms are welcomed but no meanie comments owkay~ Hope y'all gonna enjoy this C:

 **Chapter** **1-Concussion**

Blood dripping from where her stomach was stabbed by Sasori with a blade. The lower part of her top turned darker red as more blood coming out.'Shit! I need to heal this up. There's no way I could survive more than 20 minutes with more blood coming out from me!' Sakura thought to herself while trying to surpress her panic and pains.

She closed her eyes for a second and let out a soft sigh. She leaped backward just in time to dodge a ray of flames aiming at the previous spot she stood. She hissed and turned to see the face of her attacker. His scarlet brows furrowed downward for a moment before his signature emotionless expression returned to his face as if he tried to contain his anger. Mercilessly, he prepared his flame throwers and fire at every direction she went. The flesh-eating flames followed her like missiles giving her no time to catch a breath.

Sakura was good at dodging but her untreated wound in the abdomen gave her a disadvantage. Fatigue was soon overpowering her, slowing her dexterity in evasion resulting a small part of flames caught and burned her right calf successfully gaining a pain cry from her. Despite the burning pains, she forced herself to proceed avoiding from being engulfed by her opponent's attacks. Knowing that continue on dodging wouldn't be easy and helpful now thanks to her new injury, she scanned around to find a shelter. She saw a huge boulder and took cover from behind it.

It was just her. Sakura stared at Chiyo's body who laid lifelessly not far from the entrance of the cave. "Chiyo-baa-san..." Sakura whispered quietly as tears began to form. She was now alone on her own to deal with this mad man who had killed his own grandmother.

She wiped her tears with the back of her gloved hands. Various things occurred to her mind like how everyone will meet death eventually. It was a general knowledge that even though Shinobis tend to know combat arts, therefore, knew how to protect themselves, were to die earlier than most of those civilians because they were living risky lives. To take a good example was Sakura here who was currently shielding herself behind the soon-to-be-disintegrated huge boulder from rapid fire burst released by the red headed maniac.

Gathering chakra on her right palm, she brought closer to heal her injured belly and burned flesh. Although she was aware that she would die someday, she didn't expect that she would die this young. Back on her genin years, she always dreamed being married to Sasuke. She chuckled slightly at the thought. Honestly, she still kept that dream. However, she wasn't sure that will ever happen seeing the disappearance of Sasuke and her current dying state. Sakura was an excellent shinobi as expected for being the disciple of Tsunade, one of the legendary Sannins also Konoha's fifth hokage.

She put her right hand to her right side after finished healing her wounds. She knew her end was near. "Mom, dad, Tsunade-shishou, Ino,...Naruto... everyone else... thanks for being the wonderful parts of my life."She muttered quietly with a sad smile at the resminicing of her dear Konoha friends. Closing her hands tightly until her knuckles turned white, she made her last decision. "That's it. I'm gonna die with honour..." Determination gleams in her emerald eyes. 'and I'm bringing down that motherfucker with me!'

Sasori stopped his attacks and looked over the now scrambled piles of rocks that revealed the pink haired girl who captured his interest. There was fire in her eyes. She didn't make a move and just stood there looking right at him.

For a few seconds, they just stood where they were standing and exchanging stares. Sasori took a step forward and broke their little eye-staring contest. "You shouldn't waste your chakra on healing. You might need it to land a scratch on me". He stated with a smirk. Sakura clenched her teeth. Sasori's remark definitely hit a nerve. "If I didn't heal myself, I would die faster! Alright!?" Sakura cried furiously. " Well we wouldn't want that to happen...Don't we?" He responded sarcastically. Sakura was not the kind of person that likes to be thrown sarcasms at.

Feeling like anything that comes out from Sasori's mouth will only spark her anger. She readied herself to carry out the strategy she planned when she hid behind the boulder. It was risky, but she had to take every chance she could. She was low on chakra from healing her injuries. So she was unable to perform more techniques as distractions to get closer to Sasori.

She ran toward him at fast speed trying to get the closest distance as possible without being harmed of course. Halfway, not far from where he stood, she brought fore her chakra infused fist and punched the earth apart. The earth shattered, pieces of rocks flew aimlessly at all directions. Sasori deflect all rocks coming at him with his cable coiled with ease. The dust caused by the abruption began to clear up. His eyes scanned his surrounding still looking for signs that show the whereabout of Sakura. Right at the moment, the dust dissipated to reveal Sakura was right in front of him charging toward him. He was mildly surprised, but his great reflex helped him to react fast. He grabbed her hand that was meant to knock him tightly until a 'puff' sound rang to his ears. It was a clone. His eyes widened as he then looked up to find the real Sakura was about to launch her attack on him. "Shannaro!" She was about an arm-length to rest her chakra enhanced fist to his chest. Unfortunately, Sasori's cable coiled that act as stinger was retracted right on time to swipe her backward brutally all the way to the end of west cave.

Sakura's plan failed. Her entire body hurted so bad. The force of being thrown away so viciously had reopened her uncompletely healed wound. Moreover, she gained new injuries on account of the impact. 'I was so close...but why? Of all days, bad luck chose to be by my side on this day?' She had never felt such pains before. This was by far the most excruciating condition she had ever been. She tried to collect herself and managed to do it not without failing at first attempt.

Sasori who had been watching since long ago, walked into some distance sufficed to talk with her. "Since you're dying anyway and that old hag is no longer around to disturb us. Let's talk." She could feel the veins in her popped. ' This guy was treating as if this whole thing was a game!' It was ludicrous how she was near to her end yet all she could feel at the moment was rage instead of fear. "Why don't you just kill me? Is this some kind of a sick game to you!? Sakura spat and sneered at him with hatred. Sasori stayed silent with a bored look on his face. Afterward, he spoke again. "When all of this is over, you will be my finest collection." Sakura's eyes widened. The thought of her becoming a puppet made her sweat and sent shiver to her spine. She would rather die in most savage ways rather than die in the hands of this psycopath and transformed into his puppet.

She was now determined to ensure the death of the red headed before hers even if it was impossible. "You're a sick bastard. I can accept that you're killing a stranger like me. But how could you killed the woman who raised you without remorse?" Her voice was shaky and her hands were trembling when she pointed those questions. Sasori sighed. He was tired of his grandmother kept being brought up even when she was already dead. "Her death is the same as others' who I have taken." His statement cut deeper than any swords. There was no way this guy used to be a human. He had no soul. Apathy clearly displayed on his face. For the second time that day, tears forming in Sakura's eyes and for years, she never cried this hard in a long time.

-

Emotions are futile. They are hindrances that preventing us from achieving our full potential. That's why he became a human puppet. To get rid of unnecessary feelings and to become the exquicite art like how he had always wanted to be. Art is eternal masterpiece that everlasting. Sasori simply stared at Sakura who was sobbing like she was attending a funeral. Well technically, he was going to kill her. Therefore, it was appropriate to consider a funeral is going to happen. Right? He was confused with her bothering to shed tears over his dead grandmother. Have they known each other for so long?

A few minutes passed by, Sakura finally managed to control her anguish. It was surprising enough that for someone who hates waiting like Sasori, he let Sakura finished her crying. Whatever the reason, Sakura assumed that it held nothing good. He probably enjoyed watching people in despair.

Sasori still staring emotionless at the girl who now seemed to have control of herself once more. Great. Now they can finally resume their battle. How he hated waiting afterall. "You used up too much time on crying. Shall we proceed our long overdue fight?" Sasori said wryly. Sakura fully recovered from her sorrow straightened herself and prepared into battle stance. Understanding her posture, Sasori launched his cable coiled swiftly at her. Dodging at last minute, the stinger sliced pass her left arm. Having experienced more painful attacks, she beared the pain and grabbed the stinger. Sasori was shocked by the sudden change of the event when she pulled him to her with his cable coiled strong and fast. As he was almost near her, he caught the will of fire in her emerald eyes before his eyes took notice of the incoming punch. Summoning all strength, Sakura striked her final blow to his chest. Puppetry limbs littering all over the place. She did it. She closed her eyes. The world became dark. She fell on her knees momentarily before collapsing on the ground. She had suffered from big loss of blood and depleted chakra.

-

The core vibrated and lifted itself in the air in a slow motion. The next few seconds, the separated pieces were drawn back together to the core similar to the way a magnet attracts iron to itself. Sasori was now back to the way he was before smashed apart by the pinkette. He clenched his hands and unclenched them to examine their capability to function as usual. Satisfied with result, he put his hands back to his sides.

The fact that he was back to his original puppet form indicated that the pinkette had failed to assassinate him. Nevertheless, he was very impressed of her. For a young kunoichi, she possessed monstrous strength. Not to mention her ability to create the antidote to his poison in short duration. It took years for him to create the perfect lethal poison. The poison was supposed to be uncurable yet this brat managed to prove him wrong. Her poison specialist was not to look down upon. Sakura Haruno had intrigued him.

Sasori turned to find Sakura who laid unmoved several feet away. He walked over to the pinkette and examined her. He was surprised to discover that Sakura was still alive. Her breathing was slow and weak. 'How persistent...' Sasori thought to himself. She was going to die from blood loss nonetheless. If somehow she miraculously survived that, she still had his poison imbedded in her.

Realising he had been standing at the same spot and stared the dying girl for too long, he began to move. He scanned around the cave to find his Akatsuki cloak that he took off during the battle. He spotted his cloak lying at the central of the cave. He went to retrieve it and put on. Dusting some dirt off his cloak, he proceeded to walk toward the entrance of the cave. He wondered if his partner in crime managed to drive away his opponents or disabled them the least. Although he knew that Deidara was strong, he doubt that he would be able to defeat his opponents. His opponents were probably stronger than his from what he heard about the copy nin and the jinchuuriki.

-

The scenery of green outside the cave became clear and wide as he was getting close the entrance. He was about to exit the cave but halted when something caught his eyes.

There was a tiny shimmer came from his deceased grandmother's left hand. Curiousity dawned upon him so he decided to inspect the mysterious object. Stopping in front Chiyo, he bent down on his knees to discover his source of curiousity. His expression betrayed nothing, but he was surprised inside. Chiyo was holding the kunoichi's antidote she received from her some time during their fierce battle. He took the antidote from Chiyo's hand to observe it thoroughly.

The sunlight from outside had reflected on the antidote's container and made it shimmer. After he had done observing, his eyes travelled back to where Sakura was lying while the antidote still grasped in his hand. His lips parted slightly as his mind was deep in thought.

-

The sunset was bathing the earth. Fallen leaves blown by nonchalant wind and danced in the air. The sounds of birds chirping adding the peaceful vibe of sunbathed forest in the evening. Breeze passed by, untidying his already messy crimson hair. He was on his way to return back to Akatsuki base. It wouldn't be too long until he reaches it soon. His eyes travelled slowly to the weight in his arms. The saying of 'I know what I'm doing' kept repeating his head over and over.

-

The Akatsuki base came into view, he had arrived his destination. He halted before entering the cave. Expanding his chakra sensor, he tried to locate the presence of his Akatsuki members within the cave. Finding no presence within, he assumed the rest of Akatsuki members were still on missions except Pein and Konan. The pair went to another Akatsuki's hideout located in Lightning Country which is far away from this place. The akatsuki leader also mentioned about doing some errands with Konan and they will be back in a few days. That leaves a conclusion that Sasori will be the only habitant in this cave tonight if Deidara didn't return.

As if remembering something important, he looked down at the injured kunoichi carried in his arms in bridal style. He needed to get her to his room for better treatment of her wounds.

Back at the previous cave, he had cleansed and bandaged the pinkette's wounds with her medical kit he found in her pouch. He decided to let her live after enough pondering and arguing himself. Thereafter, he lifted the unconscious girl and carried her in his arms to exit the cave.

Assisting her was one thing, but bringing her along to Akatsuki base was another thing he wasn't sure why. He could just simply left her there for her teammates. Why was he so impressed with her. She wasn't the strongest girl he had fought. Konan was the only girl who had defeated him and brought him to join Akatsuki.

Dismissing those thoughts aside, he realised that he had been walking in the hallway out of conscience and reached his room. He turned his doorknob and entered the room and closed the door afterward. The room was quite dark because the light was dim. There was a single bed and desk followed with its chair. His collection of puppets were hanging on the walls. An incomplete puppet laid on desk as well as unused puppet parts and carpentry. He put the pinkette on his bed. She was still sweating from the pains. His amber eyes gazed on the unconscious figure for a while before he started taking out the medical kit from her pouch.

-

Darkness was all she could see. She wandered hopelessly in the darkness looking to get out from there but no matter how far she went, there was no escape. Giving up, she sat on the dark floor with her arms around her knees. "Whatever this place is...I'm trapped in here." She frowned feeling rather hopeless and lonely.

Suddenly, blurry white orbs passed her by swiftly. Sakura looked around to see the place was full of white orbs floating swiftly forward as if trying to reach somewhere. The kunoichi's hope had risen as she ran, following the orbs that kept appearing in numbers. Faint voices could be heard from them. She couldn't make the words clear not that she really cared about it at the moment. Sprinting as fast as she could, a visible doorway arch came into her view. Her heart fluttered in joy as she kept running toward it without stopping. Relief smile crept on her face as it was only one step left to go. Floating orbs disappeared the moment she was inside.

-

Orange lights entered when her eyes opened slowly. Sakura regained consciousness as she still laid on the bed. She looked at the stony ceiling then the creepy puppets on the walls. She tried to sit but pangs of pains shot her when she shifted into sitting position. Her hands immediately went to where the pain came from. Her abdomen wrapped with bandages and there were blood stains on them. "You blacked out for a day." Sakura frantically searched the owner of the male voice.

Sasori walked toward the pinkette who stared at him with wide eyes. He sat at the edge of the bed that caused the pinkette to pull the sheet closer to her and leaned on the wall behind.

The puppeteer observed the kunoichi in front of him looking like a terrified cat before he started to speak again. "I've used the antidote on you. You should know that your wounds aren't fully healed by now so don't move too much."

They both remained silent for a while and stared at each other. Sakura's eyes softened and loosened the grip on the sheet. Noticing her less act of wariness, Sasori stood up from the bed.

"I'll get you some food." He was about to walk out the door when a feminine hand grabbed his wrist and stopped him. "W-wait..." She called out to him. Her voice was shaky and dry from thirst.

Sasori turned to look at her. Worried and confusion plastered on her face as she opened her mouth to speak. The question directed at him next was something he didn't expect to hear. "Who... are you?"

-

Notes: I'm using Fanfictionet App on mobile and somehow I can't find a way to create a line break so I just use this '-' to indicate different time or scene. Stay tuned cos' chapter is coming! :)


	2. Chapter 2 - Obscure

A/N: I received a feedback sometime during my sleep hour. Unfortunately I was unable reply to it due to a glitch. Nevertheless, I'm happy to received it. Yes, when Sasori spared her life, he didn't think of saving her because of pity but instead he did it out of admiration. Some part of him also felt like he wasn't done dealing with her yet. So he was interested in finding out more bout her where as that leads to romance eventually. ( # w # )

 **Chapter** **2-Obscure**

The whistling of kettle boiling reached the redheaded's ears. He rose from the dining chair toward the stove to turn it off. Holding the kettle's handler, he poured the hot water into two cups and put tea bags in each cup. After five minutes, he stirred the tea-filled cups with a teaspoon as his mind lingered back to the event happened in his room.

 _"Who...are you?" The sudden question had caught him off guard. He had anticipated other question such as 'why didn't you kill me?' or even death threat like 'Let me go, Akatsuki bastard!' Sasori studied the kunoichi's facial expression to see if she was serious or pretending to not know him. Her big emerald eyes blinked twice, waiting for his answer. He didn't take the pinkette the type to pull funny prank to save herself after witnessing her display of skills in combat. She gripped her apron skirt nervously, still waiting for him to reply._

 _After waiting for so long and no respond, she looked down in disappointment like a puppy being turned down. "Sasori." The kunoichi's eyes brightened and looked up to see his face. A genuine smile crept to her happy face as she repeated his name with honourific. "Sasori-kun." He remaind rooted to the ground for a while before exiting the room and walked down the hallway to the kitchen._

Breaking his own thought, he stopped stirring and put down the teaspoon on the counter. Later, he moved the cups to join an opened canned food and an apple on the tray. Picking up the tray, he carried it to his room professionally.

Sakura's head jerked up to see Sasori had came back with food. He brought the tray to her and put it on the bed. "That's all I can find." Sasori told her, gesturing her to eat.

Sakura eyed the food on the tray and picked the canned food. "Anmitsu!" Sakura squealed in delight. Her emerald eyes sparkled with joy staring at the canned food as if it was a treasure. "It's one of my favourites!" She stated happily. Sasori quirked an amused brow at her in response. The pinkette's cheeks tinted pinkish realising how childish she sounded like. Trying to hide her embarrassment, she scooped a small portion of Anmitsu with a spoon and shoved it to her mouth.

Sasori sat on the edge of the bed as he stared the girl savoured each spoonful of her food merrily. Poor girl looked like she could cry in joy. "Does it taste good?" The kunoichi paused her eating at his question. "Sasori-kun, have you never tried this?" The puppet master shook his head. Sakura looked at him as if it was something ridiculous. " Do you wanna try? It's good." She invited him as she held the spoon to his face. Sasori pushed away the spoon politely. She felt disappointed but did not pressure it and resumed her eating.

The atmosphere tensed slightly as they both remaind silent. Trying to kill the awkwardness, Sakura struggled to find something to talk about until she remembered the questions she had been meaning to ask before he stepped out the room.

"Wh-where am I by the way?" She stammered a bit as she stared at him. Staring back at her, he opened his mouth to reply her. "Akatsuki base." He said nonchalantly.

Sakura quirked her brows in puzzlement. "Akatsuki? What's that?" Instead of answering her, he changed the topic. "You were injured so I took you back here for better treatment." Puzzled look still plastered on her face as she found her voice to speak. "How did I get injured?" She asked as her eyes travelled to the wound in her abdomen.

Sasori remaind quiet with a passive look on him before he finally spoke again. "From a battle." Her puzzled look replaced with shock and panic. "Battle...!?" She hollered then continued. "What battle? Why would I get into a fight? Is that how I got all these injuries." She waved her free hand then proceeded her talk. " Wow, the person I fought must be insane to injure me this bad." She gave her pretty smile to him. "It's surprising I'm still alive with these wounds. I guess it's all thanks to you."

Sasori was clueless how to answer her so he did what he was best with, stay silent. Losing her appetite, she put back the half-eaten Anmitsu on the tray then grabbed and sipped her tea.

Glancing at the other untouched drink, she invited Sasori to drink. "Why don't you drink with me?" Sasori shooked his head. "I don't drink." Sakura almost spilled her drink but able to control herself. 'This guy is weird. No one can surive without drinking anything.'

The kunoichi turned to see Sasori crossing his arms while absorbed in his deep thought. She took the chance to observe his face. His long lashes matched with his beautiful amber eyes. His nose was thin and beautifully shaped. 'Argh...I'm so jealous. I wish I had his nose.' Further her study of the subject in front of her. 'He's got the cold aura but so far he had been nice to me. Not to mention he's good looking too! And his lips... looked like they needed some ...' Realising her inappropriate trains of thoughts, her cheeks reddened and she slapped herself mentally.

Ignoring her strange behaviour, Sasori began to speak. "Do you not remember anything?" Sakura stopped her inner arguement to see the redheaded with a bored look anticipating her answer. The kunoichi pondered, trying to understand his question.

Seeing her struggling to decipher the meaning of his question, he made the effort to rephrase it more specific. "Do you remember being a shinobi?" He glanced at her who seemed shock, then continued. "You have monstrous strength that can break the earth easily. You're a medic too, you can heal people."

He felt weird having to explain things about herself when he wasn't an expert himself about her life. For kami'sake they were trying to kill each other before! Now they were talking like normal people. Well at least normal in Sasori's opinion.

"No...I don't remember being a shinobi." Sasori contemplated the hopeless girl who was struggling to remember. 'Hopeless. What's the point of bringing her here if she lost her memory. She will be useless to me.' Sasori lost interest and rose from the bed then began to walk away but halted mid-way when she spoke again. "Shinobi...I guess that must be why I have these powers. I thought I'm just a gifted person."

Watching the confused kunoichi from the corner of his eye, he returned to his seat on the bed. "What do you mean by that?"He asked her. Sakura looked into his eyes, feeling discomforted all the sudden. "I don't know...I know I have powers and I guess I know how to use 'em a little but..." Her words hanged as she didn't know how to continue and started fidgeting. Her mind was blurry. It's like she couldn't remember much about herself. 'Who am I really? Think Sakura. Think!' Recalling the dark place with white orbs, her eyes widened. 'It must have something to do with that!'

Sasori tapped his fingers on his knees as he grew impatient. "But what!? Think harder!" Sasori snapped in icy tone. Sakura was shocked and frightened by his sudden change of attitude.

The poor kunoichi backed away while working her mind. "I can't remember alright!" She snapped back at him then continued, "It's all blurry. I'm sorry..." Sakura closed her eyes and placed her palms on her temples and messaged them, trying to get rid of her headache. Her head felt numb and heavy. It was like thousands needles pierced into her brain. Seeing her in pain, forcing her would be futile so he left her alone to attend her headache.

-

'Sadist!' Sakura thought to herself with her arms crossed over her developed chest. 'He could at least brought some pain killer pills for me.' The kunoichi glared at Sasori who sat on the chair to his desk, unnoticed of her little act of displeasure. She had just fully recovered from her headache.

The pinkette watched Sasori busied himself working on his puppet on the desk. 'Must be his hobby.' Somehow, she felt guilty being angry with him after he had helped with her injuries. Maybe she had overreacted. 'I still don't know who he is though. What's his relationship with me? For all I know, he could be the one who injured me.' Shooking her head, she resumed her thought, 'Don't be ungrateful Sakura. He wouldn't do that, would he?' That'd be insane afterall. Why would he treated my wounds if he wanted to kill me. That's only something an S-ranked maniac would do. HAHAHA!'

Sasori glanced from the corner of his eye at the pinkette who was stifling her chuckle. It was hard to concentrate his work when he could feel eyes burning holes in the back of his head moments ago and later found the kunoichi grinning to herself.

At that moment, he regretted sparing her life. At least she could have died with honour. 'Dig I fling her with my stinger too hard?' Sighing inwardly, he continued working on his puppet. 'Deidara should be back soon.' He thought as his mind recalled his conversation with Deidara through their rings yesterday.

 _"Sasori no danna, I won't be returning to base tonight. I gotta find Kakuzu." Deidara spoke, his voice sounded angry but the tone wasn't directed at him. Sasori presumed it had something to do with the Konoha shinobis but asked about it nonetheless. "What happened?" The question obviously spited Deidara as his voice sounded enraged than before. Sasori could picture his brow twitched in annoyance. "It's a long story...yeah!" He was mumbling about something before continuing, "I'll return to base tomorrow yeah. If the rest are there, tell 'em for me." With that, Deidara went off._

The leaf kunoichi eyed the puppets in the room. They were all over the stony walls. Each of them had different size and design. All of them looked creepy and alive for some reasons. The sole thought gave her goosebumps.

Sakura rose from the bed with an arm around her abdomen bearing her pain. Enduring the pains, she walked around to inspect the puppets. Despite the creepy appearance, she admired them. 'Did Sasori made them all?' She wondered, turning to see Sasori installing a puppet limb to its body.

She walked over to him, both hands at her back as she bent down to see his work. She eyed him with awe at his expertise. "Sasori-kun, you're so good. It looks amazing!" She complimented him with a smile on her face.

Sasori paused his work to stare at her.'That smile again. Why does she keep smiling at me?' He frowned then continued working on his art. "Did you make all these puppets?" The pinkette interrupted him. Sasori nodded in response not averting his gaze."Thought so. You're so talented." Praising him again.

It was too peculiar for him to receive those compliments from her, the fact that she didn't acknowledged his art before and instead insulted it.

Interrupting him once again, "Sasori-kun, do we know each other? The kunoichi asked him."What's our relationship?" He halted to meet her curious eyes.

A mischievous thought crossed his mind. He shifted his position to face her better. Afterward, he raised him hands to hold her arms. His action had definitely startled her a bit. The latter soon brought his face closer to her. "Can't you tell? We're husband and wife."

Sakura's face reddened like a tomato, stilled in his grasp. He smirked after getting the reaction he wanted and released her, proceeding his art. "Kidding."He said simply not bothering to look at Sakura who grows red both from blushing and anger."Why you! That was a serious question! Don't kid around!" She yelled as she put her hands on her hip.

Glancing her sideway, he spoke while crossing his arms over his chest. "I thought that's the answer you wanted to hear based on your question." The kunoichi let her arms fall back to her sides and clenched her fists. "That's not what I mean! What I meant was were we acquaintances for you had been the one who found me injured and saved me!" She yelled still clenching her fists. 'How temperamental.' Sasori thought and decided to tease her again. "Maybe next time you can work on wording your questions better?"

Fuming in rage, the kunoichi twirled as she raised her leg in mid air and slammed the ground, cracking it and producing a mini earthquake. Sasori no longer amused, quicken himself to avoid the slam. Puppets hanged on the walls fell to the ground.

Surprised by her own action, Sakura clamped her mouth in fear over the damage she had caused. Sasori reappeared by her side to scold her but halted when he sensed a familiar chakra speeding toward them. In a minute, a figure appeared by the doorway. "What the fuck happened yeah!?"

-

Notes: So Sakura only remembers a few things bout herself like her name, favourites, powers as mentioned etc.

Other things not mentioned mean the missing memories bout her especially those precious people in her life including enemies.

I'm sorry to inform that chapter 3 will come out late. I'm having trouble with it. It's killing me waaaahhh. Please stay patient I'll try my best to fulfill your satisfaction. Thank you!


	3. Chapter 3 - Dilemma

A/N: Yo eveyone! Sorry for the late upload hehehehe. But I wasn't procrastinating or lazying around. I was very busy and still am, had to attend my personal matters. Thanks for your patience and I hope you enjoy this chapter as well as previous ones and the upcoming chapters ( * w * )o

 **Chapter 3-**

The bonfire blazed hotly being the only source of heat in the chilling night. Sounds of nocturnal animals echoed through the quiet forests. Three figures in black cloaks with red clouds finding comfort by warming themselves with the bonfire they created as soon as nighttime falls.

One of them breaking the silence with his childish demand. "Come on man, sew my arm yeah!" Deidara pleaded holding his severed arm with the other arm, waving it in front of Kakuzu.

Kakuzu slightly irritated being interrupted while he was counting money. "This is the third time you have interrupted my counting. Once more, I'll throw your arm in the fire." Kakuzu threatened, hoping that will shut the youngest Akatsuki member.

Deidara's eyes bulged in comical way as he hid his severed arm under his cloak. "Don't do that yeah! I'll explode this goddamn place along with your savings. What's so hard about sewing this up? I thought you're an expert."

Kakuzu let out a sigh, at this rate he would never be able to finish his counting. The odd thought of having to recount the money bothered him so he ceded to pay attention to the blonde member. "I can't sew in the dark. You have to wait til' sunrise which is about five hours from now."

The clay artist discontented, his mouth gaped at the thought of having to wait more hours. He wasn't as impatient as Sasori, in fact he wasn't always this pushy. But this was a different case, he needed his severed arm reattached back before it begins to rot."I can't wait yeah! What if it begins to rot? I'll blow this planet up before that happen."

Hidan who had managed to sleep shortly before rudely awoken by Deidara's holler, jerked up from his sleeping position. "Shut the fuck up! Quit your bitchin' bout your multilated arm!" Hidan cursed, before pointing out more nasty remarks. "Just fucking wrap it up with something! Can't you talk bout' porn or something normal!?" The man could make career out of swearing.

Both Deidara and Kakuzu stared at each other before turning their attentions to the furious Jashinist. Deidara was the first to break the silence, "Geez...cut your swearing, my ears can't take it anymore. I'll shut my mouth now." Deidara frowned, placing his only functional arm on one of his raised knee while mumbling unintelligent things unsatisfied. From that moment, their pointless bickering ended as the night went by peacefully.

-

In the afternoon, the trio Akatsuki members parted as the immortal duos took a different route to carry out their incomplete task meanwhile Deidara prepared his C1 clay bird to return to Akatsuki base.

-

Travelling is easier and faster by air. Deidara's clay bird made his adventure convenient and soon he will reach his destination.

In the matter of time, Deidara landed on ground approximately a few yards to Akatsuki base. Dismissing his clay bird, he began his journey to base by walking.

Not long after that, Akatsuki base came into his sight as he proceeded toward it but halted when the ground quaking. "What the hell..." An earthquake occurred momentarily seeming to come from the cave within.

Applying chakra to his feet, he sprinted toward the direction of where the abruption occurred. He frowned as realisation conveyed him that the path seemed to lead him to his partner's room.

Deidara's confirmation was proven as he was now standing in Sasori's room doorway. However he didn't expect to see a pink haired girl from Konoha Leaf whom he had seen with the copy nin and jinchuurki, standing beside Sasori.

-

Standing in the doorway was a guy with a long blonde hair tied partially into a pony tail whom Sakura didn't recognise at all. He was wearing the same black cloak with red cloudy patterns as Sasori's.

The new guy shouted as he demanded an explanation. "What the fuck happened yeah?" Sakura looked back and forth between Sasori and the mysterious newcomer. Sasori had his poker face as usual meanwhile the newcomer seemed agitated and wary as he stared at the kunoichi.

The circumstance gave Sakura a bad feeling as her instinct told her that something bad was going to happen. The clay bomber took an initiative step into the room as his mouth opened to voice, "You! You're one of those leaflings!" He glared at the startled kunoichi who stared back at him. Afterward, he turned to look at Sasori. "Sasori no danna, what's the meaning of this? Why is she here?" He asked looking directly at the puppeteer.

Looking calm as usual, Sasori met his partner's eyes as he opened his mouth to answer him. "Long story." He stated simply not wanting to let the cat out of the bag with Sakura standing next to him.

Sasori turned his gaze to the pinkette and their eyes met. The kunoichi was looking at him expectantly, her emerald eyes gleamed with hope seeking for assurance that nothing bad was going to happen.

Caught in the serenity of her gaze, he finalised his decision as he closed his eyes and reopened them later. In a flash, he knocked the back of Sakura's head with his bare puppet hand.

Sakura fell forward unconsciously but was caught in Sasori's arms on time before she fall to the ground. Sasori stared at the unconscious kunoichi in his arms, her head rested on his chest. He lifted her up and carried her in bridal style once more to the bed and tucked her in.

Deidara who had been eyeing them since then finally spoke. "What was that yeah?" Puzzled by the whole situation, he made a way toward the wall and leaned his back on it.

Sasori made his way to nearby wall and followed suit. "I had to knock her out. She had lost her memory. Things will become awry if she found out the truth." He explained as he stared at the ceiling.

"Why didn't you just kill her yeah? Save the troubles." Deidara asked, wondering why his partner bothered with nonsensical thing. It wasn't like him to let people slip away.

Sasori remained quiet and comtemplated. He wanted to tell that he spared her life out of admiration but Deidara might not understand. "Because she's my collection." He lied flatly.

Deidara nodded in understanding. "Does Pein know about this?" Sasori shook his head. "You don't plan to keep her hidden here forever, do you?" Deidara asked with his eyes widened.

Sasori changed his gaze to the unconscious form in the bed. "That'd be impossible. I was planning to tell him when he got back here. At the meantime, her presence should remained unknown."

The clay artist scratched the back of his head, feeling doubtful. "How you're gonna pull that off?" No one wants to be imprisoned in a dull looking room even if the prisoner had lost her memory. She would long freedom eventually.

Sasori shut his eyes and reopened them. "I'll think of something." He said, crossing his arms. He didn't feel like answering more questions and thank Kami that Deidara didn't pursue the matter and changed topic.

Deidara stared at the big crater formed on the ground. Most of the puppets once hanged on the walls had fallen. "Wow...she really did numbers on your room yeah. Luckily it didn't impact everywhere else except yours." Deidara said with a grin.

The previous occurrence had caused Sasori to forget about his room's condition. He frowned at the scene, his room was destroyed and a certain pink haired girl was responsible for it.

Once the girl had recovered, he will make her repair all the damages as well as doing other minor chores. The mere thought made him pleasant, Sakura Haruno will become his servant.

-

It was daylight, but the sunlight couldn't make its way to shine the caverned room. The dim man-made lights were the only source to brighten the room. Neither sounds of nature could be heard nor fresh air to breathe in that very room. It wasn't an ideal place to wake up in the morning or sleep at night. It certainly didn't help that the room was decorated with creepy puppets belonged to the puppet master, Sasori of the Red Sand.

 _"Sakura...Thank you."_

A boy with dark spiky hair in blue shirt whispered those words before darkness overwhelmed her. Sakura's eyes fluttered opened, she was bathing in sweat.

She wiped the sweat on her forehead with the back of her gloved hand. It was a strange dream. For some reasons, those words spoken by the mysterious boy made her feel sorrow.

"Hey... the princess is finally awake." A male voice spoken and made her jolt from the bed into a sitting position. She turned to look for the owner of the voice which sounded different than Sasori's.

It was the blonde haired guy from before she passed out. He was smirking, his face rested on his forearms which placed on top of the chair's back. He wasn't wearing his cloak.

"Did you sleep well yeah?" The kunoichi shook her head, distrust displayed on her face. The blonde quirked a questioning brow. "Why? I guess I didn't appear in your dream yeah? He joked then continued, "Sasori told me your name. I'm Deidara by the way." He introduced, pointing a thumb to himself.

Sakura restrained the urge to ask about his arms, instead she asked the whereabout of Sasori. "Where's Sasori?"

"Missing prince charming already?" Deidara joked, chuckling before answering her. "He's gone to grab some food yeah." He looked into her eyes and continued, "You're pretty cute for a Leaf." He said nonchalantly, flashing a flirtatious smile.

"A what? W-what leaf?" The kunoichi stammered in surprise over his comment. 'Is he the same guy from before?' She thought doubtfully.

"You know, the Leaf where you -" His words were cut off as a hard thing hit the back of his head. "Ouch!" He yelped in pain, bringing a hand to rub where his head was hit. He turned to see the figure standing by the door.

"Opps...It slipped." Sasori lied effortlessly while carrying a box in his left arm. "Bullshit! You did it on purpose yeah." Deidara accused, still rubbing the back of his head.

Sasori quirked a challenging brow as he dared his blonde member. "Oh really? Where's the proof?"

Deidara gritted his teeth, knowing that he couldn't prove it so he changed the topic. He turned to look the stunned kunoichi who had been shifting her attention from Sasori to him repeatedly.

"Well your prince charming is here." He said, resting his face on a palm while pulling a long face. He wanted some more alone time to chat with her but with the return of Sasori, he would probably be kicked out of the room soon.

Ignoring the given nickname, Sasori called the pinkette to get her full attention. "Sakura." The kunoichi snapped out of her dazement to the caller. "Y-yes?" She asked still in dazed a bit.

Gaining her full attention, he opened his mouth to talk. " I need to talk to you." He said then halted to glare at Deidara, signaling him to leave the room before continuing his talk. "Alone."

Waving his hand in surrender, he rose from the chair to walk out the room but stopped at the door's entrance. He turned to Sasori to speak. "Hey, so did you get some food for m-" His words were once again cut off as Sasori slammed the door to his face.

Mutters of incoherence could be heard outside the door as the sound of footsteps fading slowly. Sakura and Sasori were now alone together in the room.

The sole thought made the kunoichi gulped. She didn't know why but being alone with him made her nervous. It surely didn't help her to calm down when Sasori kept staring her intently.

Making sure the presence of Deidara no longer around, he made his move toward the kunoichi on the bed. Adjusting the position of the chair once seated by his partner, he took a sit on it. Putting the box he carried on the bed, he gestured her to look over the things inside.

Sakura peeked inside the medium sized box. There were a packet of pre-made dumplings, a long red one piece chinese dress (Qi Pao), a bottle of water and two unique looking bracelets. She took the dumplings out of the box first and stared at it.

Sasori eyed the girl who had been staring at the dumplings she held for too long. "Is there something wrong?" He asked, curious of her immobilized state.

The pinkette blinked her eyes after she snapped out of her little daydream. She tried to recall the question directed at her. "Nothing." She said as she smiled softly at him. "It's just that I'm surprised you kept bringing my favourite food. I like dumplings."

Sasori made no comment and just stared back at her. It was all coincidences that all the food he brought for her appeared to be her favourites. He made a wild guess over what meal was commonly adored by people and thereby he picked dumplings.

Munching on a dumpling, her free hand lifted the red Qi Pao and studied it. Once she finished eaten the first dumpling, she held the dress with both hands, caressing it while observing it in detail.

It was a plain red chinese dress with black trims and tiny black lined floral patterns on the front and back of the skirt. She glanced at Sasori who returned her gaze with a deadpan look.

"Can I try it on?" She asked, smiling as she waited for his approval. Nodding his head, he crossed his arms and leaned back on the chair he seated. Sakura's smile died seeing Sasori still sitting in the chair.

There's no way she's going to change in front of him. 'Does this guy not understand that I want some privacy?' She thought mentally. "Umm...Sasori-kun. I want to change clothes." Sasori raised an eyebrow at her.

"So? Just change then." Frowning, she put her hands on her hip, one of her hands still holding the dress. "Well I won't strip off my clothes in front of you. I need some privacy in case you didn't notice." She said sternly.

Sasori gave her a ridiculed look, he can stay wherever he wants and whenever he wants. Besides, this is his room. "I ain't moving. It's my room." He protested as his eyes travelled to the big crater.

"Moreover, why should I obey to the person who destroyed my room and brought her food and stuff." Sakura followed the direction of his eyes, her eyes widened at the devastation resulted from her little tantrum.

Regression enveloped her when she realised Sasori will use her misdeed against her. 'Note to self, control my temper.' Sakura pouted as she resigned in defeat. "Fine, you win. But turn around so I can change."

Sighing, he stood from his seat to turn his back on her and faced the distant walls. Making sure that he couldn't see her, she pointed her middle finger to his back. Satisfied that he didn't react to it and remained unmoved, she began to strip out of her clothes starting on her top.

Leaving only in her underclothes, she reached her new dress's zipper to lower it down when Sasori spoke. "Are you done yet?" He asked, tapping his foot impatiently.

"You kidding me? It hasn't reached a minute for you to ask that." Shooking her head, she proceeded to put on the dress.

Closing his eyes, the movement sound of fabrics could be heard and later the noise of zip ascended. "I'm done!" The kunoichi declared.

Sasori spun to face her. Sakura twirled around to give him a proper view of her in the new dress from both frontal and backside. "So what do you think?" She smiled sheepishly, asking for his opinion.

Sasori eyed the kunoichi from top to bottom. The dress fit her perfectly, showing every curve of her body. The skirt's splits had exposed the smooth-looking skins of her thighs. His lips parted slightly for a while before he replied. "Good."

Sakura's brightened face disappeared as she bent down in disappointment over his simple comment. Sasori moved onward to fetch the bracelets still situated inside the box.

Noticing that Sasori had picked up the pair of unique bracelets, she went closer to inspect it. Black strings were twisted spirally to a golden cord-like material. A pendant of separated ying and yang dangled to each bracelet. "They are beautiful." She praised its beauty then turned to Sasori. "Are they for me?" She smiled in excitement.

Instead of responding to her, Sasori took her wrists and put the bracelets on them. "Chakra Restraining Bracelets." Sakura eyed the bracelets now enclasping her wrists then to Sasori. "What?" She blinked somewhat puzzled.

"Special bracelets designed to withstrain your chakra. In short, you can't use your abilities." Sasori explained with impassive look.

The kunoichi was confused but later resented as she was cognizant of his explanation. "Why'd you do that? So I can't defend myself?" Her brows furrowed in infuriation as she tried to take off the bracelets but was stopped by Sasori.

"Don't ." He ordered sternly as he tightened his grip on her wrists. "It's for your own good." His face was serious as well as his tone.

Sakura was still infuriated by his action to lock her chakra without her permission, but she decided to hear him out first. Afterall, she had sworn to handle her temper better. It wouldn't do any good if she were to demolish the entire cave. "How's it for my own goodness?" Sakura asked as she relaxed her posture which prompted Sasori to release her wrists.

"My organization isn't amicable towards strangers. Deidara is my partner and currently the only one aware of you. The rest should remain unbeknownst of your presence." He observed the kunoichi who tensed slightly before continuing. "If they found bout' you, they will kill you without hesitation." He stated bluntly.

Sakura became petrified as she tried to absorb the meaning of all the information he just told her. 'So that's why that blonde guy was actin' hostile to me...' She mulled the reason of hostility she received.

She couldn't imagine the outcome of encountering the other members. She was lucky enough to not be slain by Deidara. 'Must be because Sasori.' She figured as she looked at the bracelets then Sasori.

"So these are for..." Her words were cut off as Sasori took over to elaborate. "So you won't throw tantrum like you did to reveal yourself then get killed." He mocked at her previous outburst. "I wasn't throwing tantrum! Okay? And stop bringing that up! She objected as she returned to sit on the brim of the bed.

She grabbed another dumpling then grinded it. "So what do I do?" She asked with mouth full. "Just don't attract their attentions. At least until I consult with leader." Sasori advised hoping the pinkette wouldn't cause clamorsome to get them both in trouble.

Sakura nodded as she finished the dumpling in her hand. She didn't know why, but she tended to eat more when she got depressed.

Eyeing at the two remaining dumplings, she picked them and extended one to Sasori. "Here you can have this. I never saw you eat." She offered the dumpling to him with worried look. Once again, Sasori declined her generous offer. "I don't eat." He said lazily.

Placing the dumplings back to their packet, she scowled at the lad's response. "Not this again. What's with all these craps bout' not eating or drinking? Are you on diet? A bite wouldn't hurt ya know. Besides you look fine to me. Why would you need to diet?"

The Akatsuki puppeteer felt the urge to suffocate the kunoichi with a pillow just to stop her nagging. He had a feeling that the pinkette won't stop complaining unless she perceived the truth. Sighing mentally, he reached for his cloak's zipper and lower it down slowly.

Sakura ceased from her nagging when she spotted Sasori's almost visible chest as he was lowering down the zipper. "W-what are you doing!?" She shouted as she covered her face heated in crimson from bashfulness with her hands.

"It-its too early for that! We barely knew each other! I'm not ready to settle in marriage or have your babies." She stammered frantically as she tried to calm her beating heart.

Curious of the sudden protracted silence, she peeked through the holes between her fingers when a shocking sight greeted her and she lowered her hands. Sasori's body was inhuman and seemed more puppet-like. Her mouth gaped as she became speechless.

Sasori stared at the frozen kunoichi who hadn't utter a single word since she witnessed his true form. He had expected things to turn this way. 'She'd probably freaked out of me by now.' He didn't know why, but the thought of the kunoichi being scared of him didn't seem appealing to him anymore.

"I'm not a human as you can see." He watched her face hardened, then continued. "You can stop worrying bout' me not attending human needs." He proceeded to put on his Akatsuki cloak but halted when Sakura finally spoke.

"Sorry for bein' pushy. I didn't know that. How did you become a puppet if you don't mind me askin'? Her hands on her thighs, waiting for his answer. No trace of frightened visible on her like how he had expected her to be, only curiousity drawn on her face.

Returning to sit on the chair, he leaned his back on it and closed his eyes. As a human puppet, Sasori doesn't have to suffer hindrances that normally affect a human's body, such as exhaustion, pain, wounds or muscle failure.

In spite of those mentioned advantages, he felt tiresome to keep up with a conversation. Thus, he did his best to limit his talking. Afterall, talking was never really his thing to begin with. With that, he gave his final answer before succumbing to his deep thought. "I chose to."

-

It was a beautiful day in Konoha. Sun shone bright yet the temperature wasn't as hot compared to the village hidden in sand, Suna. Civilians performing chores and routines. It would had been a wonderful day to Konoha peers who had once been the rookie 9 if it weren't for the disappearance of another comrade.

The shop keeper's bell chimed as a person entered the shop. "Irasshaimaise!" The girl with long blonde hair fully tied into high pony greeted as she paused arranging flowers from behind the counter to tend the customer.

"M-morning...I-Ino-s-san." A timid girl spoken as she bowed in respect to her florist friend. "Hinata-san." Ino smiled as she bowed in return before conversing to the Hyuuga heiress. "What brings you here?" Ino asked as she approached Hinata with hands behind her back.

"I-I'm here to pick up some flowers for tomorrow's tea ceremony." The byakugan wielder spoke shyly while fidgeting her fingers. Ino nodded as she began collecting various flowers suitable for the ceremony. After she finished gathering flowers, she wrapped them up neatly and beautifully in a bouquet and gave it to Hinata.

"They're bea-beautiful. T-thanks Ino-san. H-how much is it? Hinata complimented with a smile and asked for the price as she reached for her money pouch.

Ino stopped her and waved her hands in denial. "It's alright. It's on me. We're friends afterall." She winked an eye with hands on her slim waist. "R-really? T-thank you very much." Hinata thanked and bowed repetitively. Ino chuckled at the frantic girl in front of her when she spotted a familiar blonde guy in orange-black outfit outside the window and her laughter died.

Naruto was strolling in the street alone. He wore a stoic expression as he passed by Yamanaka's flower shop casually with his hands inside his pockets. He was lost in his own world for he had not noticed his name being called by Ino several times over the shop's window.

"He's either one hella of a deaf person or ignorant." Ino said irritatedly as she closed the window to save herself from embarrassment when she received countless stares and glances from the civilians upon calling the future hokage's name.

"T-that's not it...H-he must be feeling sad..." Hinata defended as she looked down sadly knowing the reason of Naruto's sadness. 'Naruto-kun.' She chanted his name mentally. It ached her heart to see her beloved one in anguish.

It had been two days since the return of Naruto and the others from their mission to save the kazekage. Naruto being the closest one to Sakura definitely affected by her disappearance the most. After the Akatsuki clay artist had retreated, Naruto and the rest returned to the cave when they found only Chiyo lying on the ground. Neither Sakura nor her trace can be found except muds of bloods and mass destruction of the place. They believed Sakura must had tried all her might in the battle.

It was unbelievable that Sakura who had fallen to the hands of Akatsuki would still be alive, but Naruto refused to believe that she's dead. He pledged to bring back Sasuke and Sakura even if he had to face all the Akatsuki by himself.

"Yeah. He must be heartbroken now." Ino said as she forced a smile on her face. "Well I better get back to work now. Good luck with your tea ceremony." Ino spun and made a way back to the counter. "T-thank you again." Hinata thanked as she took the cue to leave the shop.

Ino sat on the stool and resumed her flowers arrangement. Drops of tears fell on her thighs. She didn't know how long she had been holding her tears. "You better come back safely forehead. We still got a rematch to do." With that, she succumbed to her crying.

-

Notes: The last part kinda made my eyes teary haha. Idk if its only me :p. Not much of romantic interactions here but hopefully I could make scenes that will make ur heart goes doki doki in the future chapters. Ah fangirling is so great!

Oh yeah bout Sakura's new outfit. Just imagine it almost looks the same as her outfit during her genin years. So basically, a grown Sakura in her genin outfit alike! (O,.O)


	4. C4 - Staring Into Orbs Of Dangersome

A/N: Heya valuable readers, sorry for the late upload. Been very busy as usual. Moreover, am having trouble with getting internet connection and my phone is very laggy, so hard to type. Nevertheless, chapter 4 has arrived! Hope y'all gonna like it~ _

 **Chapter 4-Staring Into Orbs Of Dangersome**

Tidal of water emerged upon summoned and washed away the bands of unlawful men, siphoning the lives out of them, leaving the carcasses lying strewn on the damped ground.

A man approached a dead body whom he believed to be the leader of all the bandits who had foolishly tried to rob him and his travelling partner. "Seriously? That was my lowest level of water technique." Kisame chuckled lightly and continued, "Genins could have avoided that."

He shook his head at the jocularity then moved to approach his partner who was standing near the trees. Thereafter, they proceeded their shortly delayed journey.

-

"Here are you teas sirs." An old woman bowed and served the drinks to the pair of men whom she presumed to be vagabonds then went back inside her store.

The two men dressed in Akatsuki cloaks grabbed each of their tea and sipped. The taller man was the first to finish his tea. He put down his cup back on the tray and initiated a talk. "Dangos here are not that bad." Kisame said with a smirk.

The Uchiha prodigy replied with a simple 'hm' as he finished his tea and placed the cup back to the tray. Leaving some appropriate amount of coins on the tray, he rose from the bench and prepared to leave. "Let's go." Itachi said as he put on his hat and walked away, leaving Kisame to catch him up.

Kisame rose and reached his Samehada which was leaning on the wall behind the bench they seated. With his gigantic sword carried on his back, he followed the path where his partner went.

-

A growl sounded, breaking the silence in the room. Sakura dropped the broom she was holding in an instant to secure her arms around her grumbling tummy.

"Didn't you just eat dumplings like hours ago?" Sasori mocked with a smirk.

Cheeks reddening, she scowled at Sasori who had turned the chair he seated to face her. "I did and it wasn't enough. Okay? Plus you had me workin' nonstop." The kunoichi defended for whatever dignity left she had. She just can't seem to stop embarrassing herself in front of the redheaded.

Picking up the broom, she scanned the room. The big crater was filled with rocks unevenly til' it reached the same level of the undamaged surface. The fallen puppets were hanged back to their original places. The room didn't actually look exactly like how it was before, but it was much decent and liveable compared to its previous devastated state. 'At least its better now.' She thought, satisfied with her work.

"Well who's fault was it?" Sasori remarked wryly as he shifted to face the desk, resuming his work of art. The man surely liked to destroy her temporary happiness.

Sakura glared at Sasori's back, unable to come up with a comeback, she resumed sweeping the floor forcefully. "At least gimme a break." She murmured quietly to herself.

Feeling bored, she entertained her mind with random thoughts. 'I wonder if I could get Sasori to bring me some books.' Stopping her work, she turned to look Sasori who was indulged in his artistic hobby.

'Why did he change himself into a puppet?' Sakura wondered solemnly. Somehow she got a feeling that whatever the reason was, it wasn't pleasing.

Another thing bothered her was his organization, which she figured the name was 'Akatsuki' since Sasori had mentioned that they were in Akatsuki's base. What does this organization do? Why do the other members will kill her if they found about her? Are they bad people?

Tightening her grip on the broom, her face darkened in gloom as she looked at Sasori. She refused to believe that he was a bad person. Even so, she didn't believe that Sasori was joking when he told her all about that stuff. 'But why is he in the organization that has the heart to kill people?'

All these thoughts were hurting her mind. If only she got her memories back, will it makes things easier?

It was too silent, Sasori paused his moment of creativity to check out the kunoichi. Something was definitely wrong, the pinkette was looking down at her feet as she held the broom tightly until her knuckles turned white. Her eyes were watery, as if she was about to cry any moment.

Ruffling his messy hair, Sasori stood up from his seat toward the sad kunoichi. "You can take a break now if you're that tired."

Blinking once, Sakura wiped her teary eyes with the back of her hands. "No. That's not it. I'm not sad because of that." Pausing a while, she averted her gaze to somewhere else to avoid his eyes then continued. "I just have a little headache. That's all."

Sasori eyed the pinkette who was avoiding his eyes, not buying her words. 'Bad liar.' He thought, shooking his head mentally. 'Is this a woman's thing?' Sasori isn't an expert at dealing with others. Moreover, if it involves comforting a woman. How does one usually ease a person's melancholy? Recalling some past events, he tried to remember the things people did to cheer him up but failed nonetheless.

Spreading his arms wide open awkwardly, Sasori welcomed the kunoichi to his embrace. "Come." He said as he narrowed his eyes to his right, waiting for her to accept his solace.

If Sakura wasn't still feeling sad, she would have laughed at his awkward attempt to console her. Giving in to his consolation, Sakura closed their gap as she rested her forehead and hands on his chest. She couldn't feel the warmth of his body yet their intimacy strangely soothed her.

All of her troubles seemed to lessen. She shut her eyelids as she took in his wood-like scent. 'He smells nice.' She thought. She was helpless and she had no one to depend to except Sasori. She was afraid that the only person she trusted were to break her faith.

"Sasori-kun, you won't leave me will you?" It wasn't exactly the question she had on her mind but it will do for now. Afterall, she was always terrible at voicing out her thoughts.

Irony was the first thing that came to his mind when she asked him that. Sasori wasn't a fool, he knew that she will regain her memory someday. When that happens, she will be the one who leaves him.

Bringing a hand to cup her face, he stroked her face gently with a thumb. "If that's what you want then I won't." He said as he put her side bang behind her ear. He had been wanting to feel her face the moment he let her get involved in his life. It surprised him how delicate her face felt. Maybe this could be the one thing he will be willing to wait long. To spend time with her until the fateful day comes to part them.

Relief by his assurance, Sakura smiled as she reached to hold the hand that was cupping her face. "Thank you, Sasori-kun." She decided to give her complete trust to him. Even though he may be a criminal, she will still be by his side. Some part inside her believed that Sasori isn't bad and he experienced bad things that led him to wrong path.

They both looked deeply to each other's eyes. Sasori never realised how petite she was in his arms until now. Her big emerald eyes sparkled as she stared at him.

Captivated by her beauty, Sasori subconsciously moved his thumb to caress her soft rosy lips. Her lips parted slightly as he brought his face closer to her. Their faces were so close that her warm steady breath was hitting his lips.

The door creaked opened by someone, hence sending them back to reality. "Isn't it too early to do lovey-dovey things yeah?" Deidara interrupted with his smirk widening like a paparazzi just scored a hot scoop.

Sakura who was still in Sasori's embrace, buried her furiously reddened face to his chest,not daring to spare a glance at the unwanted intruder.

"Ever heard of knocking the door before entering?" Sasori said sternly as he sent a death glare to his partner, displeased with his sudden interruption.

Not intimidated by his threat, Deidara invited himself into the room and sat on the bedside. "Whatever, you didn't lock the door yeah." Crossing his arms, he continued to talk. "You two can keep your dirty business to yourselves yeah. I'm not here for that. Just want to inform that one of my spideys spotted Shark-face and Mr Cool Guy on the way here." Deidara informed as he said the last part spitefully.

Ever since his humiliating defeat against the Uchiha prodigy, Deidara held grudge toward Itachi and had trained his eyes to withstand all kinds of genjutsu.

Sakura who had regained her composure, released herself from Sasori's hold to pay attention to Deidara.

Ignoring his yearning for their proximity, Sasori took the time to register the new information and responded. "Does that supposed to concern me?" He raised an eyebrow then returned to sit on the chair by the desk.

Deidara made a bridge with his fingers over the back of his neck as he laid down on the bed. "Well I'm not the one who brought a kitten here." He said, glancing the kunoichi sideway with his other eye closed.

Sakura put her hands behind her back, understanding his meaning. "Oh don't worry bout' that. I have these on." Sakura smiled as she brought her hands to the front and showed the chakra restraining device enclasping her wrists to Deidara.

Deidara rose from the bed to sit and eyed the bracelets. "What's that yeah? Chakra restrainer?" He asked, directing the question mostly to the puppeteer instead of the kunoichi.

Sakura quirked her eyebrows in confusion, surprised that she wasn't the only who didn't know the role of the bracelets at first. "You didn't know that?" She asked.

The explosive expert shook his head at her. "It's different than the ones I usually see yeah." Deidara told her, earning a nod of understanding from the kunoichi as response.

"Those are advanced ones." Said Sasori who was working on his puppet, not averting his gaze.

Both Deidara and Sakura turned to look at the redheaded who had finally decided to talk after staying quiet for some time. "Oh cool, what else does it do?" Deidara asked as he shifted to eye the bracelets again. The kunoichi was curious as well, wondering why didn't Sasori just use the regular one.

"Things." Came Sasori's simple answer. Big comical sweatdrops fell on their heads. By now, they both had learnt that no further explanation will be provided when Sasori gave a plain answer.

-

Giggling of feminine filled the room followed by masculine snickering, breaking the concentration of the puppet artist who was busy repairing his broken favourite puppet.

"Look! Chibi Sasori-kun!" The kunoichi exclaimed merrily as she held out the clay molded into Sasori's image to show it to Deidara.

Deidara stroked his chin as he observed the piece of art produced by the kunoichi. "Hmm...not bad yeah." He praised, giving a thumb up. "It actually looks like Sasori no danna, especially the hair." They both turned to look at Sasori's hair then each other before bursting into laughters.

Being his usual introvert self, Sasori ignored their pejorative manner of making fun his messy hair. He will come up with some rigourous punishments specially for the pinkette.

Sakura took a moderate portion of clays from Deidara's clay pouch to mold a new one, unaware of the incoming punishments awaiting her. "Deidara, can I keep Chibi Sasori?" She asked him while molding the clays into anonymous shape.

"You can't yeah. My clays are not for children's play. They are explosive and for arts purpose only. Art is a bang yeah!" Deidara exclaimed exuberantly, causing the kunoichi to drop the clays in her grasp onto the bed.

Sasori paused fixing the third kazekage puppet to glare his fellow artist. "Art is eternal." He corrected. If there's one thing that managed to irritate him is Deidara's belief of art which conflicting with his own.

Deidara's eye twinged in annoyance. "It is not yeah! Art is something transient that fleets beautifully." He protested as he put his palms on his knees.

Sasori rose from his seat toward the bed to argue more distinctively with his partner in crime. "Art is everlasting masterpiece and it remains far into the future." He retorted angrily.

The clay artist stood up as well and the lads continued their bickering over arts.

The kunoichi stared worriedly at them, pondering how to stop their quarel before it turns into something serious. She rose to stand between the Akatsuki artists in attempt to stop them when strange presence strucked her.

The artist duos also halted when they sensed the familiar chakras of their fellow members. "Oh its them." Deidara said as he began collecting his clays to put back into his clay pouch. "Well, I would like to stay longer kitten, but your prince charming seems to disapprove that."

Sasori made his way back to the desk. "Don't come back." He said coldly, trying to get rid of his partner. This wasn't the second time he tried to do so, ever since the pinkette was around, Deidara had been finding excuses to interrupt their solitude.

Waving his hand in farewell, Deidara exited the room. With Deidara finally out of the room, Sasori proceeded the restoration of his puppet.

Having nothing fun to do, Sakura rose from the bed to have better look of Sasori's work. Bending down, she eyed the excessively broken puppet. She couldn't make the appearance clearly, especially the broken face but she could see it had dark spiky hair and wearing oversized brown furry coat.

With such damage, she wondered if it could be repaired back to its original state. 'I wonder what happened to this puppet.' She mulled the possibilites that caused the puppet to ruin exceedingly.

"Its been damaged terribly. What happened?"

Reaching for a carpentry tool, Sasori glanced the pinkette from the corner of his eyes. "A mad girl detests my art so she destroyed it." He said.

The kunoichi gasped at the reason. "That's awful. Some people huh? She should pay for it." She shook her head in disagreement. If only she knew it was her doing and that she was digging her own grave for asking a punishment from the infamous killer.

Sasori shut his eyes momentarily, a devilish smile crept upon his angelic face. "I'll consider it." He said as he scenarioized thousands way to torture her.

Nodding in approval, she returned to the bed. "Sasori-kun, can I ask you a favour?" Seeing Sasori made no effort to respond, she continued. "I want to read books. Can you bring them for me?" She requested.

Pausing his reparation of the third kazekage puppet, he paid attention to the pinkette.

"Please? I'm kinda bored here. I need something productive to do." She pleaded as she clamped her hands in persuasion.

"How bout' cleaning." Sasori suggested wryly, earning a scowl from the kunoichi.

"That's no fun!" Sakura hollered in disapproval and continued. "Nevermind. I'll borrow some clays from Deidara and asks him to teach me bout' his art." She said pretensefully with eyes shut, feigning her intention in hope will trigger him to submit.

The mere thought of her choosing Deidara's art over his, bothered him much. Not to mention the idea of the pinkette spending time with the blonde displeased him. He was aware of her intention but resigned nevertheless. "Alright, I'll bring some books for you." He said lazily.

Sakura's eyes largened in delight. "Really? Thank you so much!" She smiled as she tilted her head to the side.

Turning his attention back to the desk, he resumed his reparation, not without throwing some sarcasms at her. "Thank you is unecessary. It is beneficial for me aswell. Now you don't have to lay on the bed and eat all day." He commented sarcastically.

Sakura's cheeks tinted in pink, she reached the pillow and threw it at Sasori which he dodged with ease.

-

Four days have passed since Sakura was first brought surreptitiously to Akatsuki base. Not all members of Akatsuki were present in the very cave whereas the leader and the only female member in the organization were believed to return that day.

In the dull dimmed room, Sakura was left alone, reading diverse types of books, trying to kill her boredom whilst waiting for the return of Sasori.

The Akatsuki artists were sent on a small mission to locate the three tailed beast the day before.

Flipping to the next page of the book she was holding, she skimmed through the words as her mind was occupied with a certain redheaded. 'Sasori-kun...why is he so late?' The Kunoichi pouted at the thought of having to wait longer for him to come back.

Folding the tip of the page, she closed the book as she stared at the box filled with virtuals for her that situated near the frame of the bed. She scowled when her mind reminded her the conversation she had with Sasori before he left.

 _"Try not to finish them all at once." The redheaded said as his eyes pointed to the direction of the food supplies he provided for the Kunoichi._

 _Frowning, she crossed her arms, feeling annoyed by his aggravating statement. "I won't! I'm not a pig!" She cried angrily._

 _"I never implied that." Sasori sneered as he began moving to leave for his new assignment. Her grouchy personality and the reaction he got from teasing her were amusing_ him.

 _"Where are you going anywhere?" Sakura asked worriedly, stopping his steps._

 _Sasori held the doorknob as he turned to look the pinkette. "Mission. Do not go to the westside." He warned her._

 _Sasori's room was situated at the end of the hallway on eastside. The westside leads to five different routes that takes to the cave's entrance and exit as well as the other members' rooms. Thus, making his room isolated from the rests'._

 _Sakura nodded in understanding. "Will you come back soon?" She asked worringly as she tilted her head to the side._

 _Sasori stared at the worrisome girl. It might just be his imagination, but the pinkette seemed to not wanting to part with him. He himself, wasn't entirely sure how long the scouting mission will last but he didn't want to be the responsible one to put the disappointment face on her. Not when he wasnt going to see her for days._

 _"Yes." He told her._ _The kunoichi brightened as she smiled at him radiantly. "Have a safe trip then." Sakura bade farewell as she waved at him._

 _Sasori gave a nod in response as he locked the doorknob then exited the room and closed the door afterward._

Snapping herself back to reality, Sakura rose from the bed and stood at the center of the room. She placed her hands on her waist as she eyed the room.

The room wasn't in mess, but it wasn't really tidy as well. There were still some wood dusts left and puppetry limbs were disarranged on the desk. Sasori was quite in haste to accomplish his mission for he had forgotten to intruct her to tidy up the mess like usual.

'I guess I'm his maid huh...' Sakura shook her head in displeasant as the realisation strucked her that she was playing the role of cleaning lady.

Still staring at the mess, she sighed as she made a decision. 'On second thought, I should clean it up. Maybe being his maid wouldn't be such a bad idea.' She thought hopefully, it was the least she could do to show her gratitude toward him.

The thought of Sasori might be pleased of her work made her smile. Wrapping the cleaning headband around her head, she then put on an apron and began her cleaning duty.

-

An hour later, Sakura finished her cleaning duty. The kunoichi stared proudly at the tidiness of the room.

'Wow... who'd have known that I'm so good at this.' She praised herself mentally. 'Maybe I am ready to become someone's wife afterall.' She chuckled at her silly joke as her mind drifted to a moment when Sasori tricked her into thinking that they were married couple.

 _"Can't you tell? We're husband and wife."_

Some part of her wished it was true. But then again that would be foolish. She was still too young to get into the world of marriage. She still have a lot of things to learn and worry about before that. If she were to get married, she hoped to be fully prepared by then and become a wondeful wife.

She slapped her cheeks lightly with both hands to break her mental thought. 'I need to cool myself.' She needed to stop occupying her mind with useless things and focus on getting back her memory.

Taking off her cleaning set, she hung it to a holder attached to the wall. Later on, she walked out of the room to the bathroom located in the same side not far from where the room was. Sasori had informed her that the rest won't be using it as they have their own bathrooms on each of their passageways to their rooms.

Not long after that, Sakura reached the bathroom. She entered it and stood in front of the mirror and sink. The water ran as she opened the tap and washed her hands thoroughly as well as other parts covered with dirts.

Splashing some water on her face, she closed the tap and stared into the mirror afterward. 'Shit. My eyebags.' She cursed inwardly at her darkened eyebags caused by lack of sleep.

Every night she slept, her dreams were obscure images of random things including some vague images of people. It was strange how every person appeared in her dream always turning their back on her and never utter a word.

The boy with dark spiky hair in blue shirt frequently appeared in her dreams the most, saying the same words every time as darkness overwhelmed and woke her up.

From then on, she would always woken up to find Sasori still working on his puppets. Everytime she tried to recollect her dreams and their meanings, she would only fail miserably and acquired painful headaches in return.

Combing her disarrayed strands of hair with her fingers, she gave a final look on the mirror and left the bathroom.

-

On the way back to the room, Sakura walked leisurely as she kicked some pebbles out of her way. 'Oh... I forgot to discard the dirts in the dustpan...again.' She sighed at her forgetfulness.

As she was walking, an object flew passed her swiftly. The kunoichi stopped her track when she spotted the moving object collided the stony walls and fell on the ground not far from where she stood.

Being curious, she rushed to study the fallen object and discovered that it was a pigeon. The bird seemed to get lost its way here and injured itself when it hit the wall and fell.

"Poor little fella...how did you get in here?" Sakura asked worriedly as she bent down to hold when the bird got scared and flew passed her to the west.

"No! You're gonna hurt yourself!" She cried as she ran to chase the bird who flew staggeringly away from her.

In the matter of time, the bird had reached its limit as it landed on the ground forcefully. Sakura picked up the injured bird carefully with both hands and brought closer to her body. "See I told you so. Nevermind, let's head back to the room and treat you."

With the bird secured in her arms, she headed back to the room cautiously not wanting to harm it in advance.

It took longer than usual to reach the room with the new burden in her arms and the distance she had travelled but she got back to it at last. Sakura closed the door with her leg and placed the injured bird over a cloth on the bed.

She reached for her medical pouch and started treating her new patient's wounds. Although she had lost her memory, she seemed to be able to execute medical skill as if it was coded in her muscle memory. She was surprised herself of how her arms just moved on their own and done the work but didnt pursue the matter.

Making the final touch, she knotted the ends of the bandage together aptly so it was completely restrained from motion. "There you go buddy. Just don't move around. I'll find you a perfect box." She said to the bird then moved to find eligible boxes in current possession.

Luckily, the bird seemed to calm down and remained unmoved as its eyes followed the movement of the kunoichi. Comparing the boxes fitting for her animal patient to shelter, she chose one of them and began emptying its contents.

 ***THUMP! THUMP!***

The kunoichi paused her action when the door was knocked from outside. Her face brightened. 'Sasori-kun! He must had thought that I locked the door.' She pondered as she made her way to the door.

"Welcome back, Saso-" Her words hung.

Her hands trembling uncontrollably as she became frozen to the ground at the sight of the man in front of her. Its neither Sasori nor Deidara but someone else. She couldn't bring her eyes to see everywhere else except his red eyes.

In that very moment, her world shattered and death was all she could think of as she remained fixed and stared hopelessly into the crimson orbs.

'Sasori-kun... I think I just met another member.'

-

Big clay bird soaring in the afternoon sky with the Akatsuki artists bickering on its back. They had just fled from the rampage of the loosed three tailed beast and were on the way to return to their base.

"It was just supposed to be a scouting mission. Why did you engage it?" The redheaded glared at his partner. The two had gained some inconvenience due to the unplanned battle, mostly to the younger member.

"I didn't know it was that strong yeah." Deidara responded while tending his wounds.

As for Sasori, he was lucky for he's invincible to injury. However, he was displeased with the situation because his recently repaired puppet got broken again.

"You lost an arm to one tailed jinchuuriki. What makes you think you could take this one down?" Sasori scoffed.

Pausing the treatment of his wounds, Deidara paid attention to his grumpy partner. "I didn't think of that yeah. Just want to test the waters. Hey, at least we got away yeah. So get over it." He retorted, gritting his teeth when sharps of pains shot him. 'What is his deal? I'm the one with injuries here.'

Ever since his partner came out the base yesterday, he had been acting strangely. If he wasn't mistaken, he caught Sasori's lips curled up slightly before his usual poker face returned. As if he was smiling. Now, the redheaded seemed to get all grumpy easily.

'Was he that eager to finish this mission?' The clay artist pondered.

Sasori uttered a 'hmph' and replied, "I hope you got what you wanted."

Ignoring his injured partner, he shifted his gaze to the view below the clay bird as his mind recalled a signal he received during their battle with the beast. The chakra restrainer used on the pinkette actually came with a strapless inseparated yin-yang pendant which Sasori had been keeping. It works as a device to link the person who was keeping it with the person who wore the bracelets.

Whenever Sakura comes upon contact with someone else's chakra, it will send a signal to the pendant in Sasori's possession. Sometime during their battle with the three tailed beast, the pendant scintillated in his pocket, indicating that someone had used his chakra on the pinkette.

His eyebrows furrowed in disleasure. 'That brat. What did she do this time.' He might not be able to make it in time, but he hoped that whoever that person who encountered her will have the tolerance to not rush in killing her. Not until he made there on time to stop it.

-

Notes: Fufufu! Seems like our fave kunoichi is in trouble! Will Sasori make it in time? Stay tuned!


	5. Chapter 5 - Goodbye Sasori

A/N: Hello readers! Mina is finally back from the long hiatus. I'm deeply sorry,it is not my intention to cause such a long wait. So many things to do with little time.(T T) I wish I could perform shadow clones jutsu \\( = =)/ Anyway chapter 5 has arrived. Hopefully you'd enjoy

-

 **Chapter 5 - Goodbye Sasori**

The raven-haired man rose from the dining chair as he carried his cup and plate to the kitchen sink and washed them. Placing them back to the dish rack, he made his way to leave the kitchen.

"Where are you going?" His blue-skinned partner asked, pausing his eating while anticipating for the Uchiha to reply.

"Training ground." The Uchiha replied.

"Great. I'll be joining you after this." Kisame informed with a grin as he continued his eating. The guy will never miss the chance to fight.

Having no more questions coming from his partner, Itachi walked out the kitchen and proceeded to walk in the passageway until he reached the juncture that leads to different routes.

Just as he reached there, a feminine voice broke into his mind. Fast as lightning, he hid himself in the shadows as he searched for the voice owner.

Standing at the entrance of one of the routes, a few metres away was a pink haired girl whom somehow seemed familiar to him. "See I told you so. Nevermind, let's head back to the room and treat you." The pink haired girl said to the bird she held, unaware of herself being watched as she began walking away.

How did she get in here? Akatsuki base isn't a place where you could just walk in and out as you please without facing the Akatsuki members. His curiosity was piqued even more as how the pinkette managed to make her presence undetected at all. Masking one's chakra doesn't fully guarantee the succession of hiding one's presence. That person's presence could still be detected by others. Moreover, it would be a breeze to advance skilled ninjas like Akatsuki.

Still staring at the spot where the pinkette previously stood, Itachi moved from his hiding spot to follow her stealthily.

-

In Sasori's room, Sakura started to regain consciousness. The kunoichi got up from the floor slowly into a sitting position. 'What just happened...' Rubbing the back of her head as she tried to recall the event that took place before she passed out. It was fuzzy at first, but then she gasped at the recollection of the event. She looked around the room frantically. She let out a sigh. The guy was no longer there.

When she received some knocks on the door, she presumed it was Sasori and opened the door unwaveringly. To her dismay, she encountered one of the Akatsuki members.

 _The kunoichi backed away slowly as the raven-haired guy approached her. Her eyes remained fixed to his crimson ones, unable to utter a single word.'Oh no... I'm dead... Now he's gonna reveal me to all the other members so they could perform a ritual killing. Sakura thought solemnly._

 _Itachi stared at the petrified girl before him. Seeing her current state indicated that she was aware of the danger she was in. "Speak of your business here." He ordered calmly._

 _The kunoichi tensed at the sound of his husky voice. How does one as herself who was just as clueless about the whole thing answer that? What was she still doing there? She could just escape from there instead of waiting for Sasori's return and avoid all this mess. Then again something jumped to her mind. Going outside the world without the knowledge of herself wouldn't be a wise choice. The outcome might be just as bad or worse. Nevermind that for now, how was she going to save herself from this trouble? If she told him the whole story, would he believe that? She didn't want to get Sasori into trouble. Though by now she already did._

 _After a while, she finally found the courage to voice. "I'm Sasori's new maidservant. She said confidently, trying to convince him as she slapped herself mentally. It might be a stupid excuse , but that was all she could come up with at the moment. How can she think properly when two murderous red eyes staring right at her._

 _Itachi eyed the girl, it was impressive how she managed to dismiss her fear and lied confidently in his face. The girl could barely move at the sight of him before. Now she was telling him the most ridiculous thing he ever heard. "I wasn't aware that Sasori had maidservant before. " Itachi said as he took a step closer to her while she backing away from him._

 _'Sasori never had a maid before? How come he's good at bossing? He's the perfect definition of mean sadistic good-looking boss.' She shook her head and tried to come up with a new excuse. "Yes exactly. By new, I also mean I'm the first ever hired by him. And I'm doing great at it so far. Don't believe me? Just look around."_

 _Itachi scanned the room, indeed it seemed organised. Though his eyes travelled to the injured bird on the bed and food supplies momentarily then stopped at the impact crater._

 _Sakura followed the direction of his viewpoint, her eyes bulged at the sight. "Tha-that was an accident!" She hollered almost frantically._

 _Ignoring her unavailing explanation, he studied the girl before him once again from head to toe. His eyes lingered at her headband that proudly showed the symbol of Konohagakure. At the moment, two possibilities occurred in his mind regarding the sole situation. First was, implying her as a spy from Konoha and had somehow successfully infiltrated their base. However, seeing the food supplies and other stuff somehow seemed to belong to her gave him the impression she had been staying here for quite some time. Thereby, his first theory ultimately supported the second one which implied that Sasori was committing a treason by bringing an outsider or more likely a spy here._

 _"What do you gain from this treachery?" The kunoichi's eyes widened at the sudden question. Nervous sweatdrops traced the outline of her face. Things just got worse. Not only death will greet her, but now Sasori was accused of betrayal. 'No. I can't let this happen. I must clear things up!' She thought mentally._

 _"No!" The kunoichi blurted in denial, shooking her head a bit dramatically. "You got it all wrong. I know you don't believe me but I'm not whatever you think I am. And Sasori does nothing wrong... He doesn't betray you guys... he's only helping me--Aah!" She shrieked when her mind ached precipitously. She found herself unable to speak nor move. Her body quivering uncontrollably as her surrounding becoming darker. 'Th-those eyes..' She thought as her eyes remained fixed to the red orbs. The comma-like within the orbs were now spinning. She fought hard trying to resist whatever force was plaguing her mind. As if it was digging deep into her mind and soul, trying to bring out her greatest terror. It got hurtful each time she tried to endure it. Finally the darkness swallowed her, rendering her vulnerable._

A tear rolled down her cheek as she recalled the nightmare. Dreadful- The experience was dreadful. The eternal emptiness, everything was so hollow. She was trapped alone in the darkplace again. This time there was no way out. Left with no memories of herself nor anyone else. The wounds she had never closing up, everyday she relived the pain and loneliness for eternity. Sakura stood up wobbly, wiping the stains of sadness off her face. She tried to compose herself. Now she should be worry for the real trouble coming ahead. 'Why didn't he kill me?' She mulled over the reasons.

"Sakura.."

The kunoichi turned around to the voice owner. The redheaded puppeteer was standing at the door, his eyebrows furrowed as he looked at her. "Sasori-kun.." She spoke his name in return. Eyes sparkled in excitement and disbelief. Her problems diminished at the sight of him."W-welcome back.." She greeted him then.

Sasori eyed the pinkette, not saying anything. Afterward, he walked over to her, checking signs for any injuries. Finding none , he locked his gaze with hers. Eyes spotting the dry stains of tears on her cheeks. " You were crying..." He commented.

Sakura observed his serious face. His brows still furrowed downward. As though, he was showing concern for her. 'Sasori-kun worries bout me?' She thought mentally. She felt touched and happy momentarily before her troubles came back to haunt her. She shooked them away and tried to come up with an excuse. "I thought of a sad scene from the book I read so I cried a little." She laughed weakly. "Are you worrying bout me?" She asked sheepishly.

"..." Ignoring the question, he changed the topic. "Did something happen?" He asked.

She pondered if she should tell him bout the event. Intaking a small breath, she opened her mouth to speak. "Um no." She lied casually. "You really took me as troublesome huh... " She folded her arms.

Sasori gave his usual deadpan look. "That's really something to contemplate." He remarked wryly.

The kunoichi feigned a hurt look. "You really take me as damsel in distress." Shooking her head in disbelief, she then placed a hand on her chest. "Okay...Look here.." She began but paused when Sasori followed where her hand rested. "Not literally! This is just a gesture to refer to myself." She explained shyly before continuing further. "A-anyway, you don't have to worry too much bout me. I don't look for troubles on purpose. Besides, I can take care myself.." She stated with a fake smile.

The redheaded still feeling doubtful toward her attitude. Something did happen to her. If not why'd the pendant scintillate before? 'Why is she hiding something from me?' He thought to himself. Despite his rising suspicion, he decided not to push the matter over. The truth shall be unveiled eventually. He changed his attention toward the bandaged bird on the bed. The second thing he had noticed the moment he entered the room. "I can see you've developed a new habit of bringing a pet here. Do I need to know how did it end up here?"

"Well you left me alone here so I picked up a new friend. While I was on the way back to the room, it got lost in my direction and injured itself. So I took it here to treat his injury." She explained with a smile.

"How noble of you.." He responded dryly as he began making his way to the desk. Moments later, he took out a scroll and summoned the once again damaged third kazekage puppet then placed it on the desk.

Ignoring his dry statement, the pinkette eyed the familiar looking puppet. "Didn't you just fix it recently?" She queried.

Sasori really wasn't happy when that question came up and he only had one person to blame. He really hoped he wouldn't have to see his face soon even if it was regarding a mission. 'Stupid clay bomber..' He swore inwardly. Usually he wasn't the type to swear but the blondie deserved it.

Sensing the changing atmosphere, she chose not to irritate him further. Whatever the reason was. After a while, she looked around the room before shifting her attention to him again."So what do you think of your room?" She asked with a widening grin.

Now loosen from his tense, Sasori observed her quietly. It was nice seeing her radiant face again. It lifted up the mood. "What bout it? It looks just the same as it was." He replied to her.

"Ugh unbelievable." She said angrily and walked away, unnoticed of the smirk forming on his lips.

-

After his short encounter with the pinkette, Itachi had been pondering a lot more in that very day. Curious and clueless. He had used his sharingan to coerce her into divulging information. Strangely, nothing proved of his assumption about the treason. Instead he found himself in a dark place, he watched as the pinkette gazed lifelessly into nihilty. Right after he left the scene, he went outside their hideout, seeking for moments of tranquility. Resting under a big tree, he looked into the evening sky. True he had witnessed much terrorful things. But the void was almost unbearably suffocating even for him. No emotions nor memories could be depicted from there.

The girl who bores an uncanny resemblance to the colour of cherry blossom. What is her alliance with Konoha and Sasori of the red sand? Why does she give off the feeling that he had seen her somewhere? It sparked more questions within him. 'I will find out her identity.' He thought firmly.

Resolute in his determination, the uchiha prodigy rose from his recreational spot, heading toward the training ground. How his sea-creature-like partner must've been anticipating long for their sparring.

Moments later, two chakra senses known belonging to the deadly artists emerged.

-

The kunoichi stared as the clock striked at 8.45p.m. Her mind plotting ways and possibilities of how to leave the cave. 'I could sneak out when everyone is asleep. But...Sasori doesn't sleep..' She mulled and sighed at the possibility.

The long sigh didn't escape Sasori's ears. He watched the pinkette from the corner of his eyes. She was lying on her stomach in the bed holding a book to her face. She looked very disturbed. "Is the book that bad?" He asked her.

"Hm? Ah no. I was thinking bout other stuff." She told him with a soft giggle.

The door's lock clicked open as Deidara entered the room impudently. "Hey kitten. Nice to see you again yeah." He raised a hand as to greet the kunoichi. "Opps sorry bout the lock." He turned and said to Sasori before shifting his attention back to Sakura.

Sakura sat up from her lying position, putting the book down to greet him back. "Deidara! She called his name ebulliently. Meanwhile Sasori silently rolled his eyes. What's the use of locks around here? Of course criminals like them don't apply courtesy. He resumed whatever he was doing, didn't even bother to tolerate with him.

"Miss me that much?" Deidara grinned and walked casually to sit on the bedside. Picking up one of the books heaped together next to the pinkette. "Arts of Seduction Volume 3: How To Melt Even The Coldest Man's heart." He read with a smirk.

Flustered and infuriated, Sakura snatched the book from his hand. "Baka! That's not the title!" She glanced shortly at Sasori. Face reddening deeper when she saw Sasori smirking as well.

"PFft hahahaa" The clay artist facepalmed and laughed. "I know yeah..You should see the look on your face tho.." He said, putting his hand down after getting ahold of himself. "Heh Sorry.." He apologized upon seeing the displeased look on her. Bringing his index finger to scratch his face as he thought a way to lift her mood. He smiled as he stared her. "Now I know why Sasori keeps you yeah.." He began, piquing the pinkette and Sasori's interest. "Healing can be performed in many ways. I didn't believe when they said laughter is the best medicine. Although with you being around, you made us amused and all sorta stuff yeah. Well short to say, you, yourself are a remedy."

The pinkette raised a brow at him. "You've quite a silver tongue after thoughtlessly offended me. Hmm..but I like what you said. So I accept your flattery." She told him.

Deidara chuckled lightly. "Un, I'm glad you do so. Otherwise, I'll have to use my best pick-up lines. Of course Sasori wont approve that yeah. Cos' you'll dump him and run to me instead." He said in conceited manner.

Sasori scoffed. "Sounds like you're incapable of making her swoon just by your look so you rely on your verbality."

Deidara frowned at Sasori's remark. "Yeah yeah... cos' with just your look, thousands of girls could be swarming over you right now..." He said sarcastically.

The kunoichi giggled at their silly bickering. At the moment, they looked normal people quarelling over something. No one would have figured they were part of a dark organization. "You two are adorable.." She said deliberately.

The Akatsuki artists turned to the giggling girl with a frown. "You can't call guys that..yeah." Deidara said.

"Sorry.." She apologized ingenuinely with a smile.

The redheaded disregarded their banter, recalling important thing.

"The meeting will be starting soon. We should move now." He suggested, drawing the other two's attentions.

The kunoichi's eyes widened a little. "Meeting? As in a gathering of Akatsuki members?" She asked with interest.

"No. Everyone around the world will gather and discuss bout world peace." Sasori replied mockingly.

Sakura made no comment over the sarcasm. A spark of hope lit inside her with the new discovery. 'All the members will be attending the meeting. So I have a chance to sneak out!" She thought.

"Umm.. the meeting it won't be too long would it?" She inquired.

Deidara shook his head. "Nah, it will be. Well usually our meetings last long. Pein talks a lot sometimes." He said, sounding bored at the thought of it.

"I see.." She said simply, trying to contain her excitement over her newfound information.

Sasori furrowed his scarlet brows as if suspecting something.

The blonde artist sighed. "I'm glad I got to see your face kitten. Nothing's fun being in the same room with these people. Konan is probably less annoying to look at. But I don't want to mess with the chief's girl yeah. I'm usually not bothered with this kind of stuff. Err..but after meeting you, this place do need a touch of feminine. I'll just imagine you'd be in the meeting with us." He said charmingly , causing the pinkette to blush a bit.

"If a feminine appearance is what you're lookin' for to lessen your tense. All you'll be needing is a mirror." Sasori shot, instantly killed his partner's courtship attempt at the kunoichi.

The clay artist gritted his teeth in frustration. "I really don't get that yeah. I'm not the only guy with long hair. Why do people keep saying I look like a girl yeah?"

Sakura stifled her chuckle and ushered them to attend their meeting. "Alright boys, cut it out. Meeting first, save your sparring for later." She said, pushing them gently out of the room. To her luck, they didn't protest her action. "Bye!" She bade once they're outside and closed the door afterward. Leaving the two artists puzzled in front of the room.

"What a strange girl..." Deidara commented as he walked away for the meeting.

Sasori stared at the door for a while before following suit.

-

Sakura leaned her back against the door, listening to the fading footsteps. All trace of happiness left her face. She looked down at her feet. Letting out a sigh before moving from the spot.

Without further delay, she began collecting stuff she might require for the journey. With little things of hers to carry, she wrapped up her belongings in a cloth. Tying the knot securely, she bent over to reach the box at the bed's leg. "Hey little friend, we'll be leaving for new journey together now. Just you and me...No Sasori-kun.." She said with a sad smile. The bird moving its head slightly as to study the girl before it. She put down the box on the bed and closed it with the lid she had created holes for the bird to breathe.

Raising her hands at the back of her neck, she took off her konoha headband and placed it neatly on the bed as a memento for Sasori. She put her belongings on a another larger cloth and made it available for her to carry like a handbag. With it carried over a shoulder, she carried the box in her arms once more. Giving a last look around the room before departing it.

-

In the meantime, the Akatsuki members had already begun their discussion. "Hidan and Kakuzu are dead."Pein informed calmly whereas the rest were shocked. Although Deidara was the only one who showed reaction while Sasori and Itachi remained cool. "Tch, its those leaflings yeah.." Deidara spited maliciously.

"Whoever defeated them mustn't be looked down easily." Sasori stated.

The Akatsuki leader closed his eyes shortly before reopening them. "Indeed." He began, "Regardless, we must proceed our objectives. Deidara and Sasori, you two make preparation to capture the third bijuu. I won't accept failure." The Akatsuki leader apprised the duo artists sternly. Later turning to the sharingan user. "Itachi, proceed your mission with locating the ninth jinchuuriki. Inform Kisame when he returns here."

-

Sakura scrutinised every corner before taking the routes. With careful yet swift pace, she went from another path to another in subsequence. Eventually, leading to a path where lights from outside emitted into the cave. Her eyes widened in joy. "This is it..." She spoked as she sprinted toward the exit.

Unforeseebly, a large figure appeared at the entrance . Effectively halting her track. 'No way is it him again...' She thought. As the sight of the figure became clear, her eyes were fixed at pointy teeth instead of the red eyes she thought she'd see again.

"Someone's in a rush.." Kisame said with a grin.

-

Notes: I hope my writing techniques aren't confusing. Hopefully you guys can tell which part is prequel and which is present. Please don't mind if some details are not according to the real story, this is a fanfic afterall. I'm still writing using fanficnet on mobile and yes I still cant find a way to create line break. Can't use laptop, cos for some reasons fanfiction net is banned in my country. Surprisingly, I can access it on my mobile. If I didn't continue this in the future it could be due to the government in my country banning this website. Well wish me luck so I could continue this! ( w ")


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